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Online gaming is an extremely lucrative industry, but with such a heavily saturated market, it can be difficult to break into at first. Understanding the basic strategies and models of the industry, however, will give you an edge over the competition. Here’s everything you need to know to navigate the world of online multiplayer gaming.
Key Takeaways:
Online multiplayer gaming is a very wide umbrella of games that prioritize interaction with other players. The games may be collaborative, competitive, or some combination of the two. Because of online multiplayer gaming’s explosion in popularity, countless games from a wide range of genres have been published. Generally, though, there are a few genres that are more popular than others for online gaming. Some of the most popular are:
Each of these genres has a vastly different playstyle, and therefore a vastly different player base. For example, shooters and MOBAs will attract players with an interest in team-based competition, while MMORPGs will attract players with an interest in collaborative play.
To successfully turn a profit off an online game, you need to understand the intricacies of monetization. Here are a few popular monetization models and strategies for online games.
Live service games aren’t released with the complete story available. Instead, the plot develops as the community continues to play. New content drops occur regularly, usually divided into seasons. This keeps players coming back to see what’s new, and encourages them to purchase new content like battle-passes, new weapons, and cosmetic items.
Helldivers II is one of the best current examples. The community chooses which missions, called Major Orders, to take, and the story changes based on their success or failure. In some cases, these choices even have real-life impacts.
For example, one of the more recent Major Orders had players choose between saving a planet with a military warehouse to unlock new weapons, or saving a planet with a children’s hospital for seemingly no reward. The community chose to save the children’s hospital and was successful, so the CEO of Arrowhead Studios (the developers) donated to the Save The Children fund on behalf of the Helldivers.
Giving players agency in this way makes for an incredibly engaging experience, and if done correctly, will allow you to amass a large and dedicated playerbase.
One-time purchases typically aren’t sustainable for online games. Though the player only has to pay once, you have to continue paying to maintain the servers. Many games get around this issue by charging a monthly or yearly subscription fee to access the game.
It’s also possible to get more than one stream of revenue from a one-time purchase game, though. If you offer microtransactions for small cosmetic items or progress boosts, story expansions, or DLCs to add more depth, new mechanics, and new collectibles, your loyal players will stick around and purchase those new items.
However, you should be mindful of how those extra purchases affect the base game. There are many cases in which a game was viewed favorably upon release but was harmed by its extra purchases later on. Some of your players won’t want to make any extra purchases, but they still deserve a full, rich game experience. To this end, it’s best to avoid:
All online multiplayer games must have some sense of community to be popular. The easiest way to do this is by providing ways to collaborate in-game. Helldivers II’s Major Orders, as we mentioned above, are a great way to do this, but they’re far from the only way.
Final Fantasy XIV, for example, offers a guild system. Up to 1,000 players can join the same guild, and guild members can work together to find treasure, level up, and defeat powerful enemies. This allows players to form smaller communities while also engaging with the wider Final Fantasy community.
Establishing a sense of community can be done in many ways, but it must be done for your online multiplayer game to succeed. Making players feel like they belong in your game community is what will keep them coming back, forming friendships, and working together to enjoy your game to its fullest.
Succeeding in the online multiplayer gaming industry isn’t always easy, but Sonamine can make things a bit easier. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you, feel free to visit our site today!
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For a limited time until Sep 2024, Sonamine is offering a 60 day money back guarantee to Braze customers. Come experience the ease and simplicity of the First Time Spender Nudge package and watch your conversions soar.
